English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Regular errors:
He is speeding (not, over speeding). To speed is to drive faster than the legal limit so the use of “over” is redundant.
The road is now accessible. It was opened yesterday (not commissioned). You do not comission a completed project; you open it. To commission is to start up a project; not to put it to use. Example: The governor commissioned the project and appealed to them the contractors to be fast about it.
I will see you if I have the chance (not, I’ll see you if I’m chanced). Chance, as a verb, means to happen by chance; not to have the opportunity. It is chanced that I found a solution the next day.
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Academic Advisor, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan;
&
Doctoral student of English, University of Ibadan.
